A Dangling Conversation
by Lady Feylene
Summary: Set in the summer after sixth year. Ron and Harry discuss life, love, the attractiveness (or lackthereof) of certain professors, and the vagueness and confusion of sexuality. (mild fluffy slash)


Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, no money is being made off of this.

Warning: Slash, mild slash. Very cute and fluffy though.

Author's Notes: Un-betad, rough draft. Just trying to get a reaction to it. First Harry/Ron piece I've ever done, actually. Written for a friend, hope you enjoy. Title has nothing to do with a Simon and Garfunkle song of the same name.

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A Dangling Conversation

"If I said that I thought Lupin and Snape were sleeping together, would you think I was nutters?"

Ron glanced up at his best friend, mind trying to wrap itself around what he had just heard. "Yes," he said without hesitation, "I'd think you were barking mad."

"I thought so." Harry sighed, and dropped his head to the table. The two boys were sitting at the kitchen table of Number Twelve Grimmauld place, doing their Transfiguration work. Sixth year had passed painfully slowly, and uneventfully. Voldemort was gathering his recourses apparently, and they were left to wait and wonder.

"Do you have any, you know, proof?" Ron went on. He really wanted to know what had brought *that* up.

"No so much as proof exactly. More of a…a feeling. And the way Lupin looks at him, sometimes. Like someone would look at someone they were sleeping with."

"And you're an expert at how shagging partners look at one another, then?" Ron asked, with raised eyebrows.

"I've…seen movies." Harry shrugged. "And Lupin touches him a lot."

"Maybe Lupin fancies him," Ron suggested. "I wouldn't imagine he'd have much luck."

"Does it even bother you that we're talking about two men?"

"Oh, well, not really." Ron gave a shrug of his own. "I mean, I always figured Snape for camp. And Lupin's a special case."

"True." Harry nodded slowly. "Why would he fancy *Snape*?"

"Who knows?" It was a good question. Lupin was mild mannered, friendly and considerate. Snape was a plain nasty git. "Maybe he's settling. My mum claims one of my cousins did that, married this real prick 'cause she thought she couldn't do any better."

"I can't really see Lupin doing that."

"Me neither, but it's the only reason I could come up with for him fancying Snape. It isn't even as if he's got a horrid personality and he's blinding good looking."

"And you'd be one t judge, then?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's not a matter of judging it's a matter of being able to see properly," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "All right, so maybe I'm exaggerating."

"I wouldn't be able to say, actually."

"He's not great looking," Ron said, half heartedly. 

"Why are we having this discussion?"

"Because you think Lupin and Snape are shacking up," Ron reminded him. "Hands down, Lupin's the better looking of the two. Well, I dunno. I guess it just depends on what you like."

"Apparently, Lupin likes Snape."

"Apparently," Ron agreed. "I can't see Snape returning the affections, though."

"Me neither. But I can't see Snape as liking anyone, really."

"Except maybe Draco…" Ron said, with a small snicker. "No wonder he gets such good grades in potions. He does all his work on his knees…"

"That's just sick, Ron." Harry pulled a face, and then laughed. 

"Sick but probably true." Ron grinned along with his friend, their summer work completely forgotten.

"So which one do you think is better looking again?" Harry asked.

"Haven't decided yet. Their both old." Ron pursed his lips. It really was a tough call. 

"But you do think men are attractive?"

"Not all of them."

"Some of them."

"Yeah." Ron nodded. "Don't you?"

"Er…" Harry trailed off, looking a little bit uncomfortable. "It's really not something I think about, actually."

"I'd imagine you'd have to, at some point." Ron pointed out, logically. "I mean, you *do* wank off, don't you?"

"Ron!" Harry obviously wasn't as un-phased by the turn their conversation had taken as Ron was.

"What? You're seventeen, you *have* to do it. I do it, Seamus does it, Dean does it, Neville probably does it….you *have* to do it!"

"I don't *have* to do it. It isn't as if I'm going to die if I don't touch my own cock!"

"So you don't do it?" Ron's voice was thoroughly disbelieving.

"Not *often*…" Harry admitted.

"But you do it."

"Yes, but not often!"

"But you *do* it." Ron wanted to make absolutely sure they were on the same page.

"Yes I do it. There, happy now?"

"No not yet," Ron said with a grin. "Okay so you want. What do you think about?"

"I'm not telling you that!" 

"Why not? I don't mean gritty details, I mean in general. Is it a real person, someone you made up, what?"

"It's not like I think of one person…" Harry sighed, and Ron recognized the look of defeat on his friend's face. "It's just sort of…I don't know. I don't think of anyone, really."

"No one?"

"No. It's more…I just do it, and I think about what I'm doing and that's that. What does it manner, anyway?"

"Well…I was going to ask if you'd ever thought about other guys but that's sort of not the point anymore," Ron said, his voice colored with confusion and slight worry. "Harry, I don't think you have a sexuality…"

"Of course I do," Harry said, looking just as confused as Ron. "I mean…I get to the point when I *need* to wank, generally when thinking about scantily clothed girls."

"Like who?"

"No."

"Come on…"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"You can tell me…" Ron pushed. "Please? Come on. Tell me."

"You don't want to know."

"Yes I do."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Your sister."

"You're a dead man."

"I told you you didn't want to know!" Harry exclaimed. "I said you didn't, you can't kill me."

"Fine, we're going to forget you ever said that. What about scantily clothed young men?"

"I don't think about scantily clothed young men."

"Try it."

"No."

"Okay, we'll try a different approach." Ron was bound and determined to prove that Harry was probably just as attracted to other men as he was to women. "You've kissed girls."

"Disastrously but yes. And yes, it got me excited." Harry cut Ron off before he could ask his next question. Ron nodded, since it had been answered anyway.

"Have you ever kissed a bloke?" he went on.

"No."

"Well, see, you just need to kiss a bloke and then you'll know whether or not you like them sexually."

"How did this get from whether or not I thought of other men as being attractive to where or not I liked other men sexually?"

"Oh, most of it happened in my head," Ron admitted. "But you're all caught up now, so it's okay."

"Uh-huh." Harry did not look amused. In fact he was looking at Ron as though the red head were quite insane. "So say I go along with your little tangent here. Where am I going to find a bloke to kiss? I can't exactly walk up to Lupin and ask for a peck, now can I?"

"You wouldn't want to kiss him anyway, he has Snape germs. I'll do it."

"You?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, me." What was wrong with that? They were best friends, and Ron liked to think that he was attractive. What was wrong with a kiss?

"You'd just kiss me. Just to see if I like guys?"

"Well, yeah. Like you said, who else?"

"Okay. So say you kiss me, and say I really like it. Then it might not be just because I like kissing guys, it might because I like kissing you. Then think of the mess we'd be in."

Ron honestly couldn't tell if Harry was being serious or not. It did bring up good point, though. Did he find Harry attractive? Well, yes. He just was, there was no question about it. He didn't think of him sexually. Mainly because they were best friends and that was just awkward. You didn't want to be wanking in the dorm late one night and call out your friend's name a little too loudly. They might wander over to see what you wanted, and *then* what a problem there'd be…

"We figure that out after the kiss." Ron decided.

"So there is going to be a kiss? Glad I was in the decision."

"Well, you've only really been involved in less then half of the conversation, so your vote doesn't count," Ron said with a small grin. He was very tempted to say he was flirting with Harry.

"All right fine. Come here." Harry scooted his chair out, and stood up. Ron did the same, and came around the table so he was facing his friend. He'd never noticed how much shorter Harry was then him. Or how compact.

"Okay," Ron said, placing his hands lightly on Harry's shoulders.

"Ready?" Harry asked, looking up a bit nervously. He licked his lips, and Ron ahd to wonder why on earth he had never looked at Harry in a shagging way before. Harry was most *definitely* shaggable. 

"Now…don't think of this as a test kiss, okay? Think of it as a real kiss…"

"I will," Harry agreed, closing his eyes. Ron took a deep breath and leaned forward. This was harder then he'd thought. His breath was coming quickly now, and his heart was fluttering in his chest. He pressed his lips against Harry's, and was immediately amazed by how soft they were. He'd always imagined they'd be chapped from all the flying he did, but they were moist and soft and absolutely amazing.

He didn't want to pull away. Harry was trembling under his hands, just a little, and his lips parted slightly. Ron had to hold back from sliding his tongue between them, but that would probably just freak Harry out. No, he had to end it.

"Well?" Ron asked, pulling away.

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding and fixing his glasses. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" Ron needed clarification.

"Yeah I like kissing guys,:" Harry said.

"Oh. Okay." Well that was out of the way now. Ron licked his own lips, still tasting Harry there. "You kiss really good."

"So do you."

An awkward silence followed. Harry sat back down, still looking a little dazed. Ron sat next to him, not sure what to say now.

"Um…" Harry started, and Ron looked up quickly. It had been a very good kiss, and now Ron was looking at Harry in a whole new light.

"Yeah?" Ron asked, hurriedly.

"Would you…do that again, maybe, sometime?"

"Yeah." Ron nodded. He most certainly would. Harry smiled, and it was shy and sweet and Ron leaned over and pressed his lips against it briefly. "Anytime you want."

"Okay," Harry said, still smiling. That felt…good. Ron wasn't sure exactly where they stood now, but it was as slightly more then just friends.

"So…" Ron asked, not able to stifle his grin. This *had* all started for a reason. "Which one do *you* think is better looking?"

~~~~~~~~~


End file.
